Matilda, Child of Fire

TFB: A Wounded Universe

34 TFB: A Wounded Universe

"The Universe, she's wounded/She's still got infinity ahead of her/She's still got you and me"

-Gregory Alan Isakov, song "The Universe"

4:30 pm, Recovery Scene, April 6th, 2046, Kitchen, Vera Manor, Seattle, Washington

After ensuring all fire minions were successfully vanquished (they were), and that the Portender was completely sealed within the English toffee tin (he was), Mel unsealed the living room as everyone poured into the kitchen, making way for Macy, Wyatt, and Harry who carried a limp Abigael, laying her body on the floor.

"Heal her, Harry!" screamed Macy, who continued to kneel at Abigael's side.

"Macy, love," he said with tears in his eyes. "She's already gone."

5 pm, Two Days Later, Abigael's Funeral, Vera Manor Garden, Seattle, Washington

Morgana presided over the funeral, a small-but-sublimely elegant affair befitting Abigael to a tea. Maggie had used glamour powder to create gigantic clustered pillars of silver, plum, and black begonias, gardenias, and azaleas surrounding the casket, which Mel knew her late wife would have adored if only she had been alive to see it.

Harry and Macy's arms were around their grown children Maya, Henry, and Matilda, all of whom emerged largely unscathed by the Portender's clutches; Mel clutched her daughter Tory's hand, as they silently sobbed, tears pouring forth from their cheeks. Matilda glanced over at her raven-haired adoptive cousin, discovered decades ago (before Matilda had even been born) when she'd made a precocious appearance at Central Park before being taken in by Aunt Abi and Aunt Mel.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Morgana's voice continued as she presided over the memorial service, as she performed the typical traditional magical rites ushering a being into the next realm. Given Aunt Abi had pulled a Severus Snape, what would become of her? Matilda couldn't help but wonder. Would her soul enter Tartarus due to her earlier treachery, having attacked her mom Macy upon first meeting her? Would she join the other nefarious forces in the underworld, doomed to a life in the dank-yet-fiery caverns steeped in the screams of human torment? Heaven couldn't have been a viable option, as Abigael's soul was far too tainted...

Matilda glanced over at the opposite aisle, where Wyatt sat with his father Wy and his grandparents Piper and Leo. The next row from that aisle had Phoebe and Paige, all of whom bore a reverential, solemn expression for the occasion and who had, at least during the funeral, put their differences aside to unite once more. Wyatt's eyes met hers and instead of turning away and blushing furiously, she smiled slightly—an enigmatic, Mona Lisa poignant, exhausted smile with her eyes, after which they turned back to Morgana, who had completed the rites, causing Abigael's casketed body to vanish from sight.

5:30 pm, Abigael's Funeral, Vera Manor Garden, Seattle, Washington

Macy walked to the crystal quartz podium to present the eulogy; the task would have gone to Mel, but being distraught, she was unable to summon forth the effort—which was now Macy's and Macy's alone to bear. She smoothed her ebony floral-printed dress as she looked out at the flowery blossoms and visages before her.

"When I first met Abigael, she tried to kill me—" she began, causing a distinct hum of laughter across the garden enclave. "Hand-held sword, if my memory serves me correctly. I thought she was delusional when she said we had things in common. Out of her gourd, even." She paused to survey the funeral attendees. "But she was right."

Macy took a breath to steady her shaking voice. "We had a lot more in common than met the eye. We were both raised by single parents, disciplinarians, who had ways of showing us they loved us, often in challenging ways we could never begin to understand. We were thrust into our powers, her by birth, mine by transfusion, that caused a great deal of complications—as well as empowerment—when used responsibly or irresponsibly alike. Her unconventional tactics, one of which involved egging on her wife, Mel, to take a Kyon Queen potion, led to us freeing creatures imprisoned against her will. You remember that, right?" she directed her question to Mel, who lifted her head, uttering a small laugh beneath her tears.